The Raven and Her Lion Cubs
by madelynemore
Summary: Maddie is a Muggle-born student at Hogwarts. She befriends the Weasley twins in their first year, and she accompanies them on their adventures. (Starts two years before Harry's first year. Was previously titled Double the Trouble).
1. Chapter 1

Maddie woke up and rubbed her eyes as she sat up. Her eyes hadn't adjusted yet to the light or adjusted to the area around her. She reached over to her bedside table and grabbed her glasses. As she sat up in her bed, she put them on. Her vision wasn't awful for an eleven-year-old, but it was bad enough that she needed glasses. She usually wore contacts, but they hurt her eyes to wear so soon after waking up.

She got out of bed and walked over to her dresser. She grabbed a shirt and a pair of jeans and sighed. It was a Tuesday, so that meant both of her parents were at work, so she was left with Tara, her authoritarian babysitter. She had her piano lessons at noon, and no matter how much she told her parents that she hated playing the piano, Tara had convinced them it was beneficial for her.

Maddie walked over to the door and opened it before stepping out into the hallway. She didn't need to shower, but she wanted to have time to herself before Tara started to dictate her life. And of course, she didn't even get that.

Tara walked into the hallway from the kitchen, right as she was walking out of her room. Tara was just a glorified 22-year-old college dropout of a nanny, but everything that she said or did was either extremely harsh to Maddie or extremely loving and constructive towards her parents.

"Hey, kid," Tara said as she twirled her blonde hair around her finger. "Make sure you're ready for your lessons. I don't want to be embarrassed because you haven't practiced at all because I know you haven't."

Maddie nodded. "I'll try not to embarrass _you_ in front of Mr. Thomas because of _my_ awful playing. Maybe I shouldn't be in lessons if they aren't doing me any good." I continued on my way to the bathroom. "The only reason that I'm in them at all is because you think that Mr. Thomas is cute."

She grabbed her arm to stop her and pointed a finger in her face. "Listen, brat. We have a day planned, so go get ready for it. We don't have all day for you to mope around because you're 'life is so hard,'" she mocked. "Your father is a doctor, and your mother is the lawyer at his firm. I would kill to have your life. Don't let it be you."

Maddie took a deep breath and nodded. She pulled herself out of her grasp and ran into the bathroom. She was extremely ready for secondary school to start because that meant she only had to deal with Tara on the weekends. Even a new school would be better than having to deal with Tara,

She locked the door behind her and took a deep breath. She started the shower and sat down on the edge of the tub. She wasn't really going to shower. She just wanted to sit in peace before this apparently hectic day started. Yeah, she was luckier than most, but that didn't mean her life wasn't hard. Success was pretty much the only expectation that was acceptable in her family. As an eleven-year-old, she already was having to decide what she wanted to do with her life.

She waited around twenty minutes before getting changing out of her pajamas and into her outfit for the day. She braided her long black hair over her shoulder and adjusted her glasses. She hated looking at herself in the mirror when she wore her glasses. She never considered them flattering, but she hated the feeling of contacts.

Her tan skin was darker than normal because of the summer sun that tanned her skin. Her father was part Indian, and her mother was Italian, so her skin was always tanner than most kids. She had heterochromia, so her left eye was dark brown, and her right eye was hazel. It wasn't a large difference, so most people thought that her eyes just simply changed color.

Maddie left the bathroom and walked over to the kitchen. Tara was standing by the counter, drinking coffee. She walked over to the pantry to find something to eat for breakfast. She grabbed a protein bar and walked over to the island counter.

"You have mail," Tara said, pointing to an envelope that sat on top of all of the rest. "Some school wants you. I wouldn't know why since the school you're actually going to almost didn't accept you."

She rolled her eyes and grabbed the envelope. It had my name written in extremely pretty handwriting on the front. The wax seal on the back had been broken from when Tara opened it. She sighed and took the letter out.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

 _of_ WITCHCRAFT _and_ WIZARDRY

Headmaster: **Albus Dumbledore**

 _(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,_

 _Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of wizards)_

Dear Miss Shire,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 3. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

 _Minerva McGonagall_

Minerva McGonagall

 _Deputy Headmistress_

Maddie raised my eyebrow and looked over at Tara. "This is a joke, right?" she asked her accusatively. "I may be eleven, but I'm not stupid."

Tara looked up from the daily paper and looked at her. "I don't even know what you are talking about. I just opened it up to see that it was from a school." She put her coffee down. "First off, you are dumb, and secondly, I hope it's a boarding school so I don't have to deal with you ever again."

Maddie gritted her teeth and read over the letter. There was no way that this wasn't a prank. Of all of the schools in England, she had never heard of Hogwarts. It had to be some kind of prank from Tara. She wanted her to know that she wasn't falling for it.

Then, Tara yelped. Maddie looked up and saw that her cup of coffee had fallen all over her paper and onto her shirt.

"How did you do that, you brat?!" Tara yelled at her. "Why did you knock over my coffee?"

Maddie held up her hands in defense. "I didn't do anything. It's not my fault that you're clumsy."

"Why, I ought to-" Tara was interrupted by a large noise in the foyer. The sound didn't sound like a door opening, but she hoped it was her parents coming home.

Maddie ran off towards the foyer and hoped that Tara wasn't going to follow and throw her under any sort of bus. She was not met with her parents though. She was met by a verity weirdly dressed man.

"Um, hello, Miss Shire," the man said. "I don't know what this is, but if it is broken, I will fix it." He pointed to the coat rack that was laying on the floor. There wasn't any apparent damage.

Maddie shook her head. "It's not broken, but it needs to be standing." She started to walk towards it, but then it stood up on its own. She looked over at the man in horror. "What is that?"

The man held up the stick. "Oh, this? It's just an eleven-and-a-half-inch chestnut with a phoenix feather core." He put it up his sleeve and held out his hand. "My name is Silvanus Kettleburn. I'm the Care of Magical Creatures professor at Hogwarts, which will make more sense to you when I give you this!" He patted down his pockets.

"How did you get in here?" Tara walked in and asked. "I will call the police if you do not tell me who you are."

Kettleburn seemed startled by Tara's entrance. He pulled out the stick and flicked it. There was a small light that came from it, and Tara paused.

"Okay, now where was that letter?" He said and continued to pat down his pockets.

Maddie gave him a confused look. "Wait, did you say Hogwarts?"

He nodded. "It's only the best school for wizards and witches, like yourself. It where I teach, and it's where your great aunt, Edna, went to school."

She looked back and forth between him and Tara. "I didn't know that I had a great aunt Edna." She took a deep breath. "But I don't know what you are talking about. I must be dreaming. Witches aren't real. Salem proved that."

He laughed. "Well, that's what the muggles with teach you. Also, the system is different in America. Don't worry about all of that. I've also explained everything to your parents already. They didn't take it extremely well, but we knew they wouldn't. I think I convinced them to have you go to Hogwarts."

Maddie shook her head. "I'll be going to the best secondary school next year. I can't give that up for some imaginary school. If my parents don't approve, then neither do I."

He twirled his wand around. "What if I told you that there was a wand just like this one that was specialized just for you? Would you believe me then?"

This was a whole bunch of information to latch on to. Yeah, Maddie was still a kid, but she wasn't allowed to have much of an imagination. Her parents made sure that she knew everything as a fact.

She shrugged. "Only if I had it in my hands and got the chance to use it." She stared at Tara for a moment. "What did you do to her?"

He walked past Tara and towards the kitchen. "Do you have something to drink? Apparating makes me thirsty. I was already thirsty because I had to talk to your parents for hours, since they don't have the most expansive imagination. Though, this isn't something that you really need an imagination for because this is real."

Maddie followed him into the kitchen. "You talked to my parents?"

He nodded. "Yeah, they weren't very happy to see me at first, but I think I convinced them. I didn't have to resort to too many unnatural means."

"So what happened to Tara wasn't unnatural?" She said very confounded.

He walked over to the sink and flicked his wand. The cupboard opened and a cup floated into his hand. He filled the cup with water and turned around to face Maddie.

"I know you have a lot of questions to ask me," he said when he finished the cup. "I have permissions and funds from your parents so you can ask them on the way."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Where are we going?"

Kettleburn smiled. "Well, Diagon Alley, of course. The only place for young witches and wizards to get their supplies for the best school on Earth, Hogwarts."

"What exactly is Hogwarts?" She asked. "Is it a secondary school?"

He shook his head. "It's where you go to school for seven years and learn everything you need to learn to be successful in the wizarding world. I'm a professor at Hogwarts, but if you wanted, you could be an Auror or the Minister of Magic or whatever you want to be."

"But I'm on track to be a neurosurgeon," Maddie protested. "I can't just go to the wizarding world, if it even exists and you aren't a crazy person, and forget that all."

He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "Two years ago, you were really angry at your nanny, and you made the window shatter." She went to say something but he silenced her. "Three years ago, on two different accounts, you were upset because of your parents, and you locked them out of their room. Last year, you broke a cup, a window at school, and gave a kid a nose bleed."

Maddie leaned against the counter. "I'm only eleven. How did I do any of that?"

"Magic."

"You're insane."

Kettleburn laughed. "I may be, but I am honest in this." He held out his hand to her and shook his shoulders. "We have much to do today. We need to stop by Gringotts first to make a transaction, and then we need to get everything that was in that letter."

Maddie held up the envelope that she had gotten her letter in. There was another piece of paper inside. She pulled it out and looked it over. She didn't want to seem like an idiot, but the longer that this charade went on, the more real it seemed to be.

 _First-year students will require:_

 _Uniform_

 _Three Sets of Plain Work Robes (Black)_

 _One Plain Pointed Hat (Black) for day wear_

 _One Pair of Protective Gloves (dragon hide or similar)_

 _One Winter Cloak (Black, silver fastenings)_

 _Please note that all student's clothes should carry name-tags at all times._

 _Books_

 _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 by Miranda Goshawk_

 _A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot_

 _Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling_

 _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch_

 _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore_

 _Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger_

 _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander_

 _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble_

 _Other Equipment_

 _1 Wand_

 _1 Cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)_

 _1 set of glass or crystal phials_

 _1 telescope_

 _1 set of brass scales_

 _Students may also bring an Owl, a Cat or a Toad._

 _PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS._

"Who's Newt Scamander?" Maddie asked.

"Only the best Magical Creature Caretaker this world has ever seen," Kettleburn said. "I may be a bit biased since that's my area of expertise, but he did fantastic work."

Maddie nodded slowly. "Why would I want an owl at school?"

He walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. "So you can send your precious parents mail."

She had a weird feeling surge through her body as everything seemed to get distorted. When everything seemed to return to normal, she had a huge surge of nausea course through her body. She immediately leaned over and dry heaved. He patted her back.

"That happens to most people their first time," he said. "Don't worry though. Our first stop will probably knock all of that out of you. To Gringotts!"

"What it Gringotts?" Maddie asked, completely confused about where she was.

They were now standing in an alley made out of bricks, with shops all around. There was one shop that had cages all around the front, and some cages hanging from the outside walls. There was another shop that was full of sweets and all sorts of candy.

"We can go there after we get everything else," Kettleburn said. "I'm sure we have plenty of money left over to get some Bertie Botts or some Cauldron Cakes."

The longer they walked down the road, the more real this seemed to Maddie. The more she accepted it, the more she felt at home and natural. This was a weird feeling to her.

"Gringotts is the bank of the Wizarding World, in England at least," he stated. "We need to exchange your muggle money for Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts. This is how we will buy everything, but we should also open an account that way you can have some here already for a rainy day."

Maddie nodded. "Okay, so what are we going to be getting on this list first? Do I get a wand today? Are we getting all of this today?"

Kettleburn chuckled. "Be patient. Yes, you will be getting all of this today. I only have you today because I have more muggleborns to help and a class to prepare. I also have to help you get all the information that you need to get to Hogwarts and make sure that you aren't too confused on your first day."

There was a loud sound from the store to their right. The sign above the door read "Ollivanders." Maddie looked into the window, and she figured out that this was the wand shop. That was probably what she had started to become most excited for. Even though she was still in disbelief, she was starting to become excited.

Then, they were suddenly at a large building that did not seem structurally stable. There were columns that were crooked on the outside, but when they walked inside it was way more than just a crooked building. The inside was huge. The ceiling seemed to never end, and there were chandeliers that shined greater than any she had ever seen.

"Your parents gave us a good amount of money, so we should be okay to get everything today without any trouble," he told her. "Just let me take care of everything, and then I'll explain. You'll be doing this without me next year."

Maddie nodded. "Okay."

They both walked up to the counter and that was the first time she had gotten a close look at the little people behind the counter. They were unattractive and seemed anything but nice. She wondered how this could possibly the best bank, when they just seemed so mean.

"Hello, I have first time muggle-born witch, Madelyne Shire, here, and we need to exchange some pounds and open up a vault for her and her family," Kettleburn said. He pulled out the money from his pocket and handed it to the creature.

"And where is Miss Shire's family?" It asked.

He put a hand on my shoulder. "They are very busy muggles that couldn't take the time to come, but I am here with our first-year to be. I'm hoping she'll join me in Hufflepuff, but she seems more like a Slytherin or Ravenclaw. We'll just have to see."

The creature nodded before stepping down from the podium and disappeared. Kettleburn turned towards Maddie. He pointed around the building.

"So this is Gringotts, the safest and best bank in Great Britain. The reason that it's the safest bank is because goblins are very protective of their money," he mentioned. "They mark the money and know when a counterfeit comes through. They aren't always the nicest, but you can always trust a goblin."

Maddie was dumbfounded. "Wait, so you mean to tell me that there's not only witches and wizards, but there are also goblins? What else is there?"

He chuckled. "That's what you'll learn in my class. Though, first years don't usually take my class. You'll be taking Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, History of Magic, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy, and Herbology."

She looked up at him before clearing her throat. "What were you taking about earlier? What is a Hufflepuff?"

Kettleburn moved his coat to show a scarf with a badger on it. "Only the best house at Hogwarts. We're the best finders. There's other houses, such as Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Gryffindor. Slytherin is the current leader for the House Cup. I believe they have a record of seventeen years, but I could be wrong."

"How do you get into whatever house? What does that even mean for me?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "When you get to the castle, you will be called up in alphabetical order and the Sorting Hat will be placed on your head. It will put you into whatever house it deems best for you."

Maddie took a deep breath while nodding slowly. "Of course there's a talking hat."

The goblin returned with a medium sized cloth bag that seemed full of something. He handed it to Kettleburn and also handed him a key. "Never lose this key. Your vault is number 425."

"Thank you, sir," Kettleburn said while he bowed. Then, he headed to the entrance. "I'll hold onto the key until we get back to your house for safekeeping. Now, let us head to Ollivanders."

They left the building and headed down the street. They walked towards the building where there had been a loud sound. Maddie had no idea what to expect with anything anymore. Ollivanders was the wand shop, but she only knew that from reading the sign earlier. She wondered who ran that shop, a talking snake?

They walked into the shop, and there were shelves everywhere filled with boxes. She looked around for whoever ran the shop. Then suddenly, an older man walked out from one of the aisles.

"Ah, hello, young lady, and good to see you again, Professor Kettleburn," the man said. "I see we have another brand new student at Hogwarts. What's your name?"

Maddie cleared her throat. "Madelyne Shire."

He smiled. "Yes, I can tell that you are from the northern part of the country." His eyes looked over her, but it wasn't in a weird way. He was slightly calming. "Let me see here. I think I know what will work." He walked away from them and down an aisle. He grabbed a box and returned to them. "This is a twelve-inch willow with a dragon heartstring core."

She took the wand from the box and held it. She felt it tingle through her fingers before the tingle turned into a sharp pain. She yelped and dropped it quickly. She held her hand against her chest and took a deep breath.

"What was that?" She asked.

Ollivander picked up the wand and put it back in the box. "That was the wand not agreeing with you. Each wand has a specific owner. We just need to find the one that belongs to you."

Kettleburn nodded. "I went through seven wands before I found mine. It takes some real trial and error. Ollivander has gotten better at it though so you probably won't have to filter through so many."

"Do they always hurt when they don't work out?"

Ollivander walked up with another box. "No, my dear. They all have their own individual reactions." He opened the box. "This one is a twelve and three quarter dogwood with a phoenix feather core."

Maddie took the wand. It sent the same tingle up her fingers, but this time, it didn't hurt. She straightened up her stance and flicked it towards some boxes that were crookedly laying on the shelf. They all quickly straightened up.

"It seems like we've found the one," Ollivander chimed. "I hope your studies go well this year. Just a small note about your wand though, Dogwood wands refuse to perform non-verbal spells, and they are sort of noisy. Though, they perform well under pressure and are good for having fun, but while also being clever when needed. Your wand is much like you."

Maddie let a smile slip through. She was finally starting to feel like herself. After years and years of being under pressure by her parents, she was finally able to spread her wings. While Kettleburn paid for the wand, she looked over it admiringly.

"Okay, now that you have this, this doesn't mean that you can perform magic whenever you want," Kettleburn said as he ushered her out the door. "You are not allowed to perform magic outside of Hogwarts until you are seventeen. This is a law. You will get in trouble for it if you break it."

"Who writes the laws?"

"The Ministry of Magic," he said. "There are many categories of people within the Ministry, but they make the laws."

Maddie nodded. "Alright, well, where to now?"

He pointed down the way. "Flourish and Blotts. You'll see a lot of your new classmates there. It's where everyone goes to get their books."

They made their way to the shop, and Maddie was overwhelmed. She loved book stores, but this one seemed so chaotic. There were so many people within the store that it seemed like there was no way she'd be able to find what she needed for school.

Kettleburn put a hand on her shoulder and pointed to a section of the store. "Most of your books will be there. I'm going to get the rest that are scattered around. If you need help, there are loads of people here that can help you. Meet me at the counter when you get everything."

Maddie nodded and walked off into the direction that he pointed in. She pulled out the list of things that she needed and looked over the books. She looked around the area and saw _Magical Theory_ by Adalbert Waffling. She reached over and grabbed it. There were so many interesting titles that she was hoping that she was going to read one day. There was a book called _Ancient Law_. If there was any book that she would want to read, that was one of them. _Magical Misdemeanors and the Modern Law_ seemed interesting too, but maybe that was just her law side coming out.

"Mom, honestly, this is my seventh year, I can find my books on my own," Someone said behind her. "Even Charlie and Percy knows how to find their books. Why can't you just help the twins get their things and leave us be?"

"Because I also have to watch over your other siblings," Another voice said. Maddie assumed it was the mother of the first voice. "Your father is at work, and it's hard to watch over all seven of you. Your brothers are first years, so I'm expecting you to help them most of all. The only new book they need is that Waffling book. It's apparently a new edition and the old one won't do."

Maddie looked down at the book that she was holding. It was the book that they were looking for. There were more on the shelf, but she hated being around people when they are arguing. She turned around and held it out to the mother.

"Not that I'm eavesdropping, but I heard this is the book that you're looking for," she said. "I just happened to be in front of the section."

The lady had a very warm, but also cautious smile. "Thank you, dear." She took the book from Maddie. "You can't possibly work here, can you?"

Maddie shook her head. "No, Ma'am. I'm going to be a first-year at Hogwarts this year." She tossed her braid over her shoulder. "I was just trying to find all of the books that I needed."

The cautiousness disappeared from her smile. She looked around. "Where are your parents? Are they helping you gather up your books?"

She shook her head and noticed that the mother was accompanied by six sons and one daughter, who seemed to be the youngest. "No, they are still at work. I'm here with Professor Kettleburn, though, so I'm not alone."

The expression on her face changed, but Maddie couldn't figure out what emotion it was conveying. "Oh, you're a muggle-born. That makes sense now." She pointed to two of her kids who appeared to be twins. "These two will be first-years this year as well. Fred, George, make friends while I take care of your brothers." She ushered the other boys away. "Thank you again, dear. What's your name?"

"Maddie," she told her before looking at the twins. They both seemed to consider this to be extremely awkward just like she did.

"What house to you want to be sorted in?" George asked awkwardly.

Maddie shrugged. "I don't know anything about the houses. I didn't know that any of this existed until about five hours ago."

Fred grabbed another copy of the book that she had given to their mother and handed it to her. "Well, there are four of them. Our whole family has only ever been in Gryffindor, so we're pretty much guaranteed to be in that house. Really, as long as you aren't in Slytherin, then everything will be okay."

Maddie smiled her thanks and raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with Slytherin?"

"Well, nothing is wrong with the house itself, but the people within it is the problem," Fred explained. "All evil wizards come from Slytherin. Not everyone in Slytherin is evil, but the biggest, evilest ones came from that house."

Maddie nodded. "Oh, okay. Well, I'll try not to get into that house then." She looked back over the list of books that she needed to get. "I don't know where any of these are. I wish I had my mom to help me."

The twins shrugged. "We get all of ours as hand-me-downs from our brothers. It's no surprise that we have to be frugal with our money because of the fact that there are so many of us. I feel bad for Ginny, since she's the only girl."

She nodded slowly. "I'm an only child, but my parents both have some high-paying jobs in the "muggle" world."

"Did they know anyone in the family that was a witch or wizard? Or are you an outlier?" One of them asked.

"Apparently, my great aunt Enda was one, but I never heard of her," Maddie said while she shrugged. "I'm actually really scared about all of this. This is all so new to me, and I was on track to being the top students in my class."

The one she thought was Fred put a hand on her shoulder. "When our term starts, we'll help you. I'm sure no matter what happens, you'll be back to being top of the class."


	2. Chapter 2

_Okay, find Platform 9¾. I just have to run at a pillar. No big deal._ Maddie thought to herself. She looked over at her parents who seemed very nervous. They were still uncertain about everything, but they understood that this was best for her. She was worried that they weren't going to let her go, but they were the ones that urged her that this would be good for her.

Her father ran a hand through his hair. "Are you sure that you have everything that you need, Madelyne?" He asked her for the third time since they had left. She had already made and checked her mental list twice. "We can send you anything that you forget. Though, you'd have to write first, because we don't know how the owl system works."

She had everything packed accordingly. She knew she was going to have to change into her uniform on the train, so she had a bag that had her uniform in it, as well as some things to take up her time, in case the trip was long. Kettleburn had given her some information about everything, but he wasn't extremely specific.

Maddie smiled and hugged her father. "Yes, dad," she said. "I'm pretty sure that I have everything, and I promise that I'll write to you guys."

He let her go and nodded. "Do you want us to come onto the platform with you or just to leave you here?" Her mother looked concerned. Maddie knew that she wanted to come onto the platform to see her off. Any good mother would.

"Of course I want you guys to come with me," Maddie told them. "Kettleburn said that it would be okay, but we have to be inconspicuous, and you have to run with me. Don't be nervous or scared because the platform might kick you out, considering you're muggles."

Her mother smiled and nodded. "Okay, we're with you every step of the way, honey." She put a hand on her trolley. "Just lead the way."

Maddie started walking the trolley to where she was told the platform was. She didn't know what she was going to do once she was on the platform. She would be away from her parents, and the only other kids that she knew were probably not going to ever associate with her ever again. She was usually the odd kid out, and she didn't think that it would change in a place where all the odd kids were together.

When they got to the appropriate place, she stopped so that they could all hold onto the cart and run. Once they did, it was only a matter of seconds before the scenery around them changed. Everything was completely different. It was only until her mother started talking that she was pulled out of her admiration.

"Where's your father?"

Maddie looked around. "I guess he was nervous or something. Kettleburn says it happens sometimes." She started pushing the cart towards where the cases were being loaded onto the train. "Maybe he can come when I come home."

Her father wasn't ever one to support her endeavors off the beaten path. Her mother usually gave her a chance, but if she wasn't completely successful at the start, her father would put an end to it. It was why she only had one piano lesson, one dance practice, or one band class. She knew if she wasn't wildly successful in the wizarding world that he's probably find a way to pull her out of it.

"Hey, isn't that your little girlfriend Maddie?" A familiar voice said from the distance.

Maddie looked up and saw the mother of the boys that she ran into at the bookstore. Her question was met by two whining complaints that she assumed were by the boys. She smiled and waved before helping her mother unload her cart.

"Madelyne, I hope your year goes well," her mother told her. "Be sure to write often and let us know how it's going for you. You know your father wants to know."

She nodded slowly. "Yeah, but for the wrong reasons." She gave her mother a hug and took a deep breath before letting go. "It's okay though. I'll be more successful than he ever thought I would be here. It's more than being top of the class there."

She smiled. "Yeah, sock it to 'em." She ruffled her hair. "Now go get on that train before it departs."

Maddie chuckled. "Okay, love you, Mom," she laughed before running off to the nearest entrance to the train.

On her way, she passed the twins who flagged her down and told her to wait. She stopped for them and smiled. They were both taller than her, but they weren't as tall as their other brothers. They all had bright orange-red hair and freckles. It was remarkable that everyone in their family was obviously related to the others. Everyone saw her with her parents and thought that she was adopted. She was a clear mix of the two, but they looked nothing like each other.

"Are you excited to get sorted into a house?" One of them asked. She hadn't quite gotten to know which was which yet, but that was one of her goals for the year.

Maddie shrugged. "I don't know what that means. I know you've told me the houses before, and some things about them, but I haven't really gotten to know much about them. Kettleburn gave me a copy of _Hogwarts, A History_ , but I only got around to reading the first section. It's about the geography around the castle." She grabbed the rail to step up into the train. "It's all my father would let me read. Why is the forest forbidden? Or is that just a name?"

The other laughed. "Both. Recently, it's been renamed to the Dark Forest, but that book is really old." They followed her into an empty booth on the train. "I don't know anyone that would read that book for fun. Maybe Percy would, but he's mister perfect."

She sat down and kept her small bag in her lap. The boys sat across from her. She still had no idea what was going to happen once they got off of this train. She had some knowledge from Kettleburn, but there was no telling how she was going to perceive it.

"It's kind of a given that we'll be in Gryffindor, right, George?" Fred said. "Our family has been sorted into it for generations and generations. We'd be the black sheep of the family if it was to be different."

"Yeah, kind of like Sirius in the Black family, but look what happened to him. He went crazy and evil anyway," George replied.

Maddie raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"Sirius Black," Fred said. "He was a massive supporter of the Dark Lord He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. He killed a lot of people in the meantime. The most well-known, well, not well-known to you, were the Potter family, except for little Harry. He's in Azkaban now. That's the wizard's prison."

She nodded. Kettleburn told her a little about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named before to prepare her. "Well, that's good. Makes me feel a little bit safer about going to a world that I know pretty much nothing about."

"Don't worry about it, Maddie," George said. "There's really no concern. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named hasn't been seen or heard from since the Potter incident. Also, Hogwarts is one of the safest places in the Wizarding World. Dumbledore makes sure of that."

Fred nudged him. "Don't scare her, man. The only thing that you have to worry about really is us," he laughed. "Percy and Charlie think that we might kill ourselves with our jokes before we get expelled for them."

Maddie chuckled. "I got a taste of your jokes back in the shop. I saw what you did to your younger brother."

"Oh, it's his fault for eating the Ton-Tongue Toffee," George smiled. "He should know better by now."

All of the sudden, there was a knock on the door to the booth. It slid open, and there was a small girl, small for eleven, standing in the door. She had chocolate brown hair and eyes to match. She was pale, but you could still see the scar that ran over her cheek. She looked a little frightened.

"Can I sit with you guys?" She asked. "I don't know anybody else on the train and all of the other booths are full."

Maddie smiled. "Are you a muggle-born, too?" She waved her to come sit down next to her.

The girl shook her head. "No," she said. "Both of my parents are wizards. They are just very secluded from the rest of the world. They have a whole hidden bunker in case of the return of You-Know-Who. They try to keep off the radar."

Fred laughed. "Ah, they are survivalists."

"Yeah," she shrugged. "My name is Colin Chesapeake."

"Of the Chesapeake Cheapskates?" George asked. "No wonder your parents are crazy. It's in their genes."

Colin frowned. "Those were my grandparents. My parents know better." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Who are you to talk anyway?"

Fred stuck out his hand to her. "My name is Fred Weasley. This is my twin George, and our triplet in crime, Maddie."

"I wouldn't call me that," Maddie laughed. "I'm also not related to them. My last name is Shire. I'm a muggle-born wizard, I guess."

Colin rejected Fred's hand and leaned over towards Maddie. "How did you end up with these losers?"

Maddie laughed. "They aren't losers, but also, they are the first ones I met. I met them when Kettleburn was helping me do my school shopping."

"My aunt had to take me shopping because my parents didn't want to leave the house. I saved a fortune though," she said. "And before you say anything, yes, they did get that gene."

There was an awkward silence that filled the trolley after she said that. After a moment, Fred moved his foot and deliberately hit Maddie's foot with it. When she looked his way, he winked at her. She was confused, but when did he not confuse her?

"What class are you looking forward to?" Colin asked.

"I'm not entirely sure what each class has for me to look forward to," Maddie said as she kicked Fred's foot in return. "I think the fantastic beast book seems interesting, though, I know I won't be taking that class for a while."

Colin smiled, "Ooh, yeah." She moved her hands so she was sitting on them. "Newt Scamander has always been someone that I have looked up to. He worked in a time that people didn't really do what he did. Some of his creatures were near extinction when he wrote the book."

Maddie nodded. "That's pretty cool. Diving into a field for the benefit of everyone's education is like my dream."

"Is that what you were planning on doing in the Muggle world?" George asked.

She shook her head. "No, I wish. My parents pretty much set me on the neurosurgeon track since I was a kid. I was hoping I could turn it into something similar. Get enough experience and do some intense research and write a mind-breaking article."

"What's a neurosurgeon?"

Maddie sighed and pointed at her temple. "Basically a person that fixes whatever is wrong in your brain. Do you not have those in the wizarding world? What is the medical field like?"

Fred shrugged. "I don't really know all that much about it. My parents could probably tell you. Or you could always take a trip to Madam Pomfrey in the medical ward."

George nodded. "Yeah, I only know like one healing spell, and that's because Fred broke my nose when I was around eight or nine. Mum had to balance that and Ron gave Ginny a deck of exploding snap cards that caught her hair on fire, Percy complaining that he didn't have the quiet to study, and Bill and Charlie wrestling like they always did."

Maddie shook her head. "I can't imagine have you guys as brothers, much less having six siblings that I'd have to deal with. It was hard enough being just me growing up in my house."

"I've got a brother," Colin chimed in. "He's pretty cool. He's a fourth year Slytherin. He's pretty nice, though. Don't let him get you up. He's one of the nicer ones."

Maddie raised her eyebrows. "Are people in Slytherin usually mean?"

Fred laughed. "That's an understatement."

George elbowed him. "No, well… Not everyone in Slytherin is evil, but a lot of evil people come out of Slytherin. You just have to be careful."

Maddie nodded. "Oh, okay. I see." She crossed her arms over her chest and looked out the window. The scenery along the way was a lot nicer than she thought it was going to be. There weren't a lot of hills and grass in the town where she grew up.

It was a few moments before anyone spoke again. The twins obviously weren't fans of Colin and vice versa. Maddie was just thankful to have people that wanted her company, especially since she didn't really know anyone to begin with.

"Hey, do you guys want to see a magic trick?" Fred asked, pulling his wand out of his sleeve.

Colin shook her head. "No, we really shouldn't be doing magic that we don't know the outcome. If anything, we need to start getting changed into our robes. We should be there soon."

Maddie looked over at Fred and then at Colin. "Whatever we do, can we please be civil? I don't want to spend my first time legitimately in the Wizarding World in the middle of some bickering between two families."

Fred nodded and returned his wand back to his sleeve. "Okay, then let's start to get ready."

All of the first years were led in to a big hallway by a tall lady with black hair. She stopped them in a small room off of the hallway. All of the children were looking around like they were confused. Some looked more confused than others. Maddie was one of them. Everything in the castle was startling to her.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," the professor said. "The start-of-the-year banquet will start soon, but I must tell you something before we enter the Great Hall. Before you take your seats, there will be a sorting ceremony where you will be placed into your houses. This is very important because your house will become like your family while you are here. You will be in classes with your house, sleep in the same dorms as your house, and spend your time with them. This doesn't limit your friendships, but eventually, this is how it all goes."

She cleared her throat. "As I'm sure most of you know, the four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own great and noble history and each has produced amazing and talented witches and wizards. While you are here, your achievements will earn your house points, while breaking the rules will make you lose points. At the end of the year, the house that has the most points will be awarded the house cup. I hope each of you will benefit the house that you claim as your own. The ceremony will take place soon. Be sure that you behave yourselves, seeing as you'll be in front of the entire school."

Maddie looked over at Fred and George and noticed that they were straightening up their collars. She knew that the comment was towards everyone, but deep down, she felt like it was specifically for the twins. She was her their older brothers have talked about them to their professors.

Colin leaned over to Maddie and whispered, "What happens in the ceremony? My parents didn't tell me."

She shrugged. "I have no idea. We'll just have to see, I guess."

There was a moment of silence before Fred bumped into Maddie. He smiled at her, almost in a reassuring way. Maddie smiled back. It returned to silence before the professor came back inside.

"Form a line, and follow me," she said.

All the first-years scuffled around to make a line. Maddie got shoved in between Colin and a boy who was a few inches taller than her. He had brown hair that stuck up in random places, and he was skinnier than she was. He turned around after he accidentally stepped on her foot.

"Sorry," he said. "I'm Roger Davies."

Maddie was unsure how him apologizing turned into him introducing himself. She nodded slowly. "It's fine," she told him. "I'm Madelyne Shire."

The line started moving out of the room and back into the hall towards the large doors that she assumed led to the Great Hall. The professor opened the door and led the kids through the door. Maddie looked around the Great Hall in awe. The ceiling was decorated like the night sky. There were people sitting at 4 large tables, obviously sorted by their houses. There were banners above the different tables with the crests of the houses on it.

She looked back at Colin with a shocked expression on her face. There was a lot that the Muggle world had thought about magic and wizards, but it was nothing like this. She was totally in awe.

She looked up to where the professor was leading them and saw a pointed witches hat on a stool. It looked extremely old and dirty. Once all of the kids had walked in and stopped, the hat twitched, and it opened up like a mouth.

" _Oh, you may not think I'm pretty_

 _But don't judge on what you see,_

 _I'll eat myself if you can find_

 _A smarter hat than me._

 _You can keep your bowlers black,_

 _Your top hats sleek and tall,_

 _For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

 _And I can cap them all._

 _There's nothing hidden in your head_

 _The Sorting Hat can't see,_

 _So try me on and I will tell you_

 _Where you ought to be._

 _You might belong in Gryffindow,_

 _Where dwell the brave at heart,_

 _Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

 _Set Gryffindors apart;_

 _You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

 _Where they are just and loyal,_

 _Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

 _And unafraid of toil;_

 _Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

 _If you're a ready mind,_

 _Where those of wit and learning,_

 _Will always find their kind;_

 _Or perhaps in Slytherin_

 _You'll make your real friends,_

 _Those cunning folk use any means_

 _To achieve their ends._

 _So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

 _And don't get in a flap!_

 _You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

 _For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

Roger turned around to Maddie and chuckled, "I was afraid that we were going to have to pull a dove out of the hat or something."

She smiled. "I honestly had no idea what to expect."

Roger was going to reply, but he was interrupted by the professor that had led them in here. Maddie looked around and saw Professor Kettleburn sitting up at a long table at the front of the room. He made eye contact with her and smiled.

"When I call your name, you will put the hat on and be sorted," she said. "Adams, Justine!"

A small girl with stringy blonde hair walked up and put the hat on before sitting down. The hat sat crooked on her head in silence for a moment before it shouted, "SLYTHERIN!"

"Ahers, Bryan!"

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted.

"Chesapeake, Colin!"

Colin moved from behind Maddie and walked up to the stool. She put the hat on, and it slid down past her eyes. As she went to fix it, it spoke, "HUFFLEPUFF!" Colin climbed down and walked over to the Hufflepuff table with a smile on her face.

"Davies, Roger."

He smiled back at Maddie before going up to the front. He stumbled a little bit over his pants leg, but he recovered quickly. He walked up and sat down, putting the Sorting Hat on his head.

"RAVENCLAW!"

Maddie knew it would be a while before she was called, considering she was near the end of the alphabet. The twins had a longer wait. She assumed they were either going to be the last ones or really close to the end.

She looked around at the people that had already been sorted and the older students. They all seemed so happy being where they were. She hoped that no matter where she was that she would be happy. Hearing what she had heard about the four houses, she didn't exactly know where she was going.

All the sudden she heard her name called. "Shire, Madelyne!"

Maddie walked up to the stool and took a deep breath. She sat down and put the hat over her head. It barely touched her head before it shouted, "RAVENCLAW!"

The whole Ravenclaw table were loud as they rejoiced. She smiled and when she got up, she placed the hat back on the stool. She walked over to the table and sat in between Roger and another girl that got sorted into Ravenclaw. She thought her name was Erica Lilywhite or something like that.

Maddie looked over at the twins. Fred was looking over at her and looked away when they made eye contact. Before long, they were both called up and sorted into Gryffindor, along with their brothers.

Roger nudged Maddie's arm and leaned over. "Looks like your small little band of friends were broken up."

Maddie shrugged. "Just because we're in different houses doesn't mean we can't be friends." She looked over at the twins and waved. "I don't have anything over their house."

Erica, who went by Ricky, chuckled. "Yeah, that's what my sister said when she started dating the Head Boy last year, but houses really make things super competitive."

The whole hall got quiet as one of the professors stood up from the table. He was tall and had a long white beard. He cleared his throat to speak.

"Welcome, new students and returning students, to a new year at Hogwarts!" He said. "Before we begin the banquet, I would just like to tell you all that all of us professors here are extremely excited for the new year. I think that it will be filled with fun and amazing times, just like your stomachs after you eat this food."

The whole room clapped. Maddie leaned over to Roger and asked, "Who is he?"

"He's the headmaster, Professor Dumbledore. The one that led us in was Professor McGonagall. You'll meet the rest of the professors in our classes. I don't know all of their names and what they teach."

Suddenly, all of the dishes in front of them were filled with food. There were potatoes, chicken, steak, pudding, gravy, and everything one could ever want to eat. She grabbed a lot of potatoes and chicken and filled in the rest of her plate with a random assortment of everything. She knew there was no way that she'd be hungry after this meal.

Ricky leaned over. "I think I'm most excited for Potions and Astronomy. I don't know if I'll be okay with staying up until midnight for the class, but it's only once a week, so I think I'll be okay."

Maddie nodded as she took a bite of potatoes. "I think I'm excited for Transfigurations and Potions. I haven't looked over a lot of the curriculum, but those books seemed pretty cool from the first few pages."

Ricky nodded. "Professor Snape, the one with the long black hair, he's the potions professor. My sister was one of his favorites, so I'm hoping to keep that up."

"Is your sister still here?" Roger asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, she's over there sitting next to her boyfriend, the Gryffindor prefect."

Maddie looked over at where she was pointing. "She's dating Charlie Weasley?"

Ricky smiled. "Yeah. He's pretty nice. They both are interested in the same thing, otherwise, I don't think that they ever would have become friends."

She chuckled. "I met them all at the book shop. The twins are pretty nice. Though, I do have on question. What is a prefect?"

"They are sort of people in authority positions. They are glorified hall monitors basically," she said.

All of the sudden, there was a white shadowy figure in front of her. It was a lady in a long dress, who looked almost like she was sad. She was looking around the table while moving along.

"Hello, Helena," an older Ravenclaw said. "How's it going? We haven't seen you in a while."

She smiled. "Well, I wanted to see the new students. My corridor was starting to get a little old. Oh, and Robert, expect to see me more. I will be dropping in on your Transfigurations class this year. There's nothing like some good learning."

Maddie must have had some huge confused look on her face because Roger leaned over and whispered in her ear. "That's Helena Ravenclaw. The daughter of Rowena, who founded the house."

"She's a ghost?" She whispered in return.

He nodded and turned his attention back to Helena, who was talking to Robert about how excited she was to be in an advanced class again.

"So, you're a muggle-born, right, Maddie?" Ricky asked. "It's kind of obvious since you don't know a lot about the school or the wizarding world." She shoved a break roll in her mouth. "What professor brought you here?" The last question was hardly discernable.

Maddie pointed to Professor Kettleburn. "Kettleburn. I'm a little disappointed that I won't be having his class until third year, though. He seemed really nice. What are you?"

"Pureblood," she said. "Both of my parents work within the Ministry. They work in the Department of Magical Transportation. My mum is in the in the Apparition Test Centre, and my dad is part of the Floo Network Authority. What about you, Roger?"

He cleared his throat as he swallowed a mouthful of potatoes. "I'm a half-blood. My mom is a muggle-born and is currently a librarian. My father is a half-blood and is an obliviator for the ministry."

"I can tell by what you're saying that I have a lot to learn," Maddie laughed.

Roger nodded and smiled. "Yeah, my mom prepared me for a lot so that I wouldn't be as clueless as she was when she came here. My father wanted to just kind of throw me to the dogs."

"I grew up with the stuff, so I had no choice. Especially since both of my parents are in the ministry, I've grown up knowing probably more than the two of you know now combined by the age of five," she giggled.

The hall got silent again as Professor Dumbledore stood up again. "Now that everyone has had something to eat and something to drink," he started, "I have a few announcements to make.

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils, and our older students should remember that as well." He looked around the room, and his eyes landed on the twins, like he already knew what they were capable of. "Also, no magic in between classes in the corridors.

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone of age that is interested in playing should speak to Madam Hooch as soon as possible. Let's hope that we can have some good games this year."

Ricky leaned over to Maddie and whispered. "Last year, apparently all of the games between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw ended in a fight. Slytherin apparently egged it all on, according to my sister."

"Is she on the team?"

She nodded. "Yeah, she's a chaser."

Maddie had no idea what that meant. She had never heard of Quidditch before so she was interested to know how the game worked. She assumed it was a wizard game.

"Before we go off to sleep, let us sing the school song! Pick your favorite tune and begin!" Dumbledore declared.

He flicked his wand and a large golden ribbon flew out of it, which floated above the tables and formed itself into words. Maddie just continued to be amazed.

" _Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,_

 _Teach us something please,_

 _Whether we be old and bald_

 _Or young with scabby knees,_

 _Our heads could do with filling_

 _With some interesting stuff,_

 _For now they're bare and full of air,_

 _Dead flies and bits of fluff,_

 _So teach us things worth knowing,_

 _Bring back what we've forgot,_

 _Just do your best, we'll do the rest,_

 _And learn until our brains all rot."_

The hall slowly came to a stop after everyone finished the song. The twins were the last to finish singing. They made sure that they finished the last two words after everyone else. Maddie gave Fred a look, and he stopped, leaving George singing by himself.

"Such beautiful voices," Dumbledore said. "Alright, prefects, lead your house to their common rooms and dormitories. I'm sure the first years all await their beds."

Robert stood up and bellowed to the first years. "Follow me, everyone. You will need to keep up. It's easy to get lost."

Maddie stood up, and Ricky looped her arm in hers. They all followed Robert out of the Great Hall. He was taller than all of them, so it was really easy to keep up with him.

"Follow me to the stairs," Robert said.

They all followed him to the room with a large staircase. The Gryffindors were ahead walking up the stairs. Once they reached the next set of stairs, they stopped. He turned to them all. "It is important that you pay attention to the path we take because this is the only way that you can reach the staircase according to common knowledge. You may learn more ways later, but this is the easiest."

There was a tapestry that was on the wall in the middle of the next set of stairs that he disappeared behind. The hall in front of them was long and dark. There weren't as many portraits on these walls compared to the halls that they were just in. They were all moving around and talking, some to Robert, but mostly to themselves.

"I hope our common room is nice," Ricky said. "My sister says the Gryffindor common room is nice."

Robert disappeared behind another tapestry before going up a small set of stairs leading down another hall. There was a hole in the wall that he disappeared into. When Maddie followed him in, she saw a small spiral staircase that went up for at least four floors.

"Up we go," he said and began to climb up the stairs.

Ricky had to let Maddie's arm go, since the staircase barely had enough room for two people to be walking next to each other. Roger was in front of her.

"We have Charms first tomorrow," he said. "It's exciting that this is all actually happening now."

"Yeah," Ricky replied. "We have Charms, Herbology, Potions, and Defence Against the Dark Arts tomorrow. All of them should be good classes."

When they finally reached the top of the staircase, there was a large door with a bronze eagle knocker on it. Robert reached up and tapped it three times.

"You will always find me in the past. I can be created in the present, but the future can never taint me. What am I?" The door knocker asked.

Robert turned to the sea of first-years for answers. "This is how you all will be getting in to the common room every day. The riddles change every so often, so it will do you good to remember the answer. Each riddle can have multiple answers, but it is up to the eagle to decide."

A girl in front of Maddie raised her hands. "Is it politicians?"

There was a large break of silence before another person answered. There were a few more answers scattered about, but none were able to open the door. Maddie thought about it while everyone was guessing. What was created in the present but found in the past? The past was history, but was is considered to be created in the present?

"History?" Maddie chimed in.

Then, the door swung open. Robert led everyone in. The carpet was midnight blue and had stars covering it that projected up onto the domed ceiling. The room was wide and circular and was decorated with blue and bronze curtains. There were tables and bookshelves all over the room.

"The dormitories are behind this door next to the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw. At the bottom of the stairs is a private library. The stairs to the left lead to the girl's dorms, and the right lead to the boys. The rooms are interlocking, so boys please be nice and quiet at night, and same goes for the girls."

The group broke up into smaller groups of friends and people going to bed. Ricky looked over at Maddie. "I hope our beds are near each other. Let's go look."

She started to drag her towards the door, but Maddie pulled her arm out of hers. She turned to Roger and smiled. "It was nice to meet you. I'll see you in class tomorrow!"

Roger smiled and waved. "See you then."

Maddie continued to follow Ricky to the stair case to the left and headed up the stairs. They found their stuff in the last dorms up at the top. She walked over and collapsed on her bed. Ricky's bed was next to hers.

"Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life," Maddie whispered to herself.


	3. Chapter 3

Maddie sat at the Ravenclaw table eating breakfast with Ricky and Roger. The tables weren't really house divided during breakfast, but it seemed like most people were sitting separately. Colin was sitting with some other Hufflepuffs. She hadn't seen the twins yet. She was extremely ready for her first day of classes, but she was also extremely nervous.

"What is on our schedule first today?" Roger asked as he shoved some eggs into his mouth. "Charms, right?"

She nodded and took a sip of her orange juice. "Yeah, Flitwick said he's looking forward to it, so I'm sure it should be a fun class. I mean, it is only the first day of classes. Also, he seems really nice, so I'm sure it won't be too hard of a class."

Professor Flitwick was the head of the Ravenclaw house. He was a small half-goblin. His hair and beard were white. He greeted them all in the morning before they went to breakfast to give them a rundown of the day and their class schedules.

"Yeah, and after, we have potions doubled with Slytherin," Ricky added. "I don't see a class that we have doubled with Gryffindor, which is a little weird, but that's fine.'

Maddie took a deep breath. That meant she wouldn't have any classes with the twins, but maybe that was for the best. They would probably distract the heck out of her.

Speaking of the twins, they finally decided to show up to breakfast. They saw Maddie and walked over to her and sat down across from them. After filling their plates, Fred spoke.

"What classes do you guys have today? We start off with Potions," he said. He looked a little tired, like he didn't get a lot of sleep compared to George, who looked like he had the best sleep of his life. "I'm sure Snape is so great to deal with this early in the morning."

Maddie could feel the awkward air between the twins and her house friends. She didn't know how to go about making the two groups not as awkward.

"We have Charms first," Maddie said. "We never have Potions in the morning, so I'm hoping we never have to find out."

"My sister likes Snape," Ricky said. "She had them in the morning her first year, and that was when she really became his favorite."

George took a sip of his drink and raised an eyebrow at her. "Is your sister in Slytherin? Those are the only favorites that I've ever heard of him having. Though, Percy says he has no favorites."

Ricky laughed and shook her head. "No, my sister is Catarina Lilywhite, you know, the one dating your brother?"

Fred nodded and chuckled. "I knew that. Where have you been, George?" He grabbed a biscuit and broke it in half. He offered the other half to Maddie, who took it and broke it into other pieces to eat it.

There was another silence that sat over the table. She nudged Roger before looking at the clock that was over the door of the Great Hall.

"I think it's time to get to class," Maddie said to him. "There's 15 minutes, and I have no idea where the Charms classroom is. I just know that it's somewhere on the third floor."

He nodded. "Yeah, I asked one of the third-years, and he gave me some basic directions, so I'm sure we can find it." He stood up and looked over at the twins. "Have fun in Potions."

George nodded and waved good-bye. Fred put his hand on Maddie's book and gave a soft smile.

"See you later," he said. "Good luck on your first day."

Maddie smiled back and nodded as she got up to leave. She grabbed her books and followed Roger and Ricky out of the Great Hall. She looked back at the twins and waved before they were out of her line of sight.

They walked back to the Grand Staircase and headed up the stairs. The portraits that covered the walls were preparing everyone for their first day and giving them well wishes. Ricky stopped for a few seconds to thank one of the portraits that addressed her by name. She caught up to them before they left the staircase.

The Charms Hallway was decorated as such. There were paintings on the walls commemorating some famous Charms witches and wizards. There were tapestries with vague images on them that Maddie determined meant something to the Charms community.

The trio walked into the classroom, taking seats right next to each other. The desks were set in rows of threes. Maddie was in the middle with Roger to her right and Ricky to her left. The rest of the Ravenclaw first-years slowly filled in before the class started. Professor Flitwick walked in right on time and made it to his desk.

"I will start class with a roll call," he stated. "Davies, Roger?"

Roger raised his hand. "Here."

"Eberhard, Jordan?" "Here."

Maddie pulled her wand out of her boot and placed it on her desk. She opened her book, and a note slid out of it. She grabbed it and unfolded it. It looked like a torn page from a notebook. The hand writing on the piece of paper was hard to decipher.

 _Meet me in the western courtyard during the break period before dinner._

There was no doubt in her mind that this was from Fred. He was the only one that touched her book other than her. She figured that he wanted to meet up to catch up on the day because they wouldn't have a lot of time to be together, since they were in two different houses. She liked him and his brother, so she was happy to keep up their friendship.

"Shire, Madelyne?"

"Here, sir!" She said, being pulled out of her thoughts.

She put the note in her pocket and closed her book. She looked over at Ricky, who was already looking at her. Her short hair was falling into her eyes, but they didn't hide the expression on her face.

"Who was that from?" She whispered.

Maddie waved her off to let her know not to worry about it and that she would tell her later. There were only a few more names before all of the roll was called out, and class had started.

"Okay, everyone, take out your wands," Flitwick said. "We won't be studying any spells today. That lesson can wait until next time. First, before you can master any spell, you must master the wrist and hand motion of the basic spells."

Even though the class had the potential to be extremely exciting for a first day of classes, Maddie got rather bored really quickly. Roger was struggling with the basic swish-and-flick motion, so she spent a lot of her time making sure that he was doing that right before moving on to the next motion.

They left the classroom and started towards where Herbology was. Roger was still focusing on some of the movements that they were learning in the Charms class. Maddie had returned her wand into her boot. She felt awkward keeping her wand in her sleeve, especially since it was longer than her forearm. She didn't keep it in her pocket because it was such an awkward feeling. Keeping it in her boot was just where it seemed most natural.

Ricky grabbed Maddie's arm to get her attention. "So who was the note from?'

Maddie pulled her arm out. "It was just Fred and George wanting to hang out later before dinner. It's not a big deal."

She nodded. "Be careful. Sometimes when houses mix it's not the best idea, especially with Gryffindor. We, as Ravenclaws, may be superior in the form of academics, but Gryffindors tend to get really cocky and can end up hurting your own sense of self."

Maddie nodded. "I guess we'll just have to see."

"My sister has a lot of those cocky traits," Ricky said. "Now that we're back in the same school and system, she has a lot to compare to me. It sucks. I just thought I'd let you know."

Maddie nodded and leaned over to Roger. "Do you have it down now?" She asked. "If not, I can help you out a little bit more during our break."

He smiled. "Thanks. I'm getting it down. I think I'll just need you to look over it all before we have class again." He put his wand back into his pocket. "Herbology is next. I wonder what we'll be doing there. I'm hoping not more wand motions."

Ricky chimed in. "We shouldn't really be doing a lot of spells in the class. At least, we shouldn't be until we're in a more advanced class. The first few chapters in the book are just care for plants and different ways that you can use them. Mostly for potions, which I'm super excited for."

"Good, that's what I was hoping for," Roger said. "I'm just looking forward to the Defence Against the Dark Arts class. It's our last class, and it's a subject that I'm looking forward to pursuing."

Maddie nodded. "I don't really know what I want to pursue. I had such a straight forward path in the Muggle World because of my parents, and I have been told that I could pursue a similar path here, but I really need to get the experience before I figure that out. I think that potions should be interesting. I looked over the book a little last night."

They made their way towards the back of the castle. They could see some of the Slytherins making their way as well. They were coming out of the dungeons to their right along with a few Gryffindors. Two of which were the twins.

Fred made eye contact with Maddie, and she nodded in return to him, letting him know that she had gotten his note as well as her reply. He smiled and then they both continued on their separate ways.

Maddie caught up to the other two and walked out of the castle. There were a few greenhouses that were lined up at the back of the castle. The first-year class was held in 102, so once they found the class, they walked in. There was a small, chubby woman at the front of the long table with plants all over it. She was obviously Professor Sprout, who taught the class.

"Since we have an even amount of kids, I want you all to pair up," she said. "I also want you to get to know the people that you will be spending time with in class. I want one Ravenclaw student to every one Slytherin student. There will come a day when the houses will be paired against each other, but that day is not today."

Maddie looked over at Roger, who had a defeated look on his face. There was no doubt that everyone in Ravenclaw wasn't happy with this situation. It was the first day and nobody wanted to start off with a low academic standing.

She glanced over at a Slytherin boy who was picking at his nails and standing away from the rest of the group. She walked over to him and stuck her hand out to him.

"Hey, I'm Maddie Shire. Do you want to work together?" She introduced herself.

He took her hand and shook it. "Sure, I'm Xander Noble," he replied. He was taller than she was, and his skin was a lot darker than hers, but his eyes were bright blue. She rarely ever saw people with dark skin, like hers, with light eyes.

They walked up to a clear spot on the table and waited for further instructions. She was a generally shy person, so she had no idea what she was supposed to say to him. All that she had ever heard about Slytherin were negative opinions, so she had no idea how to go about this new relationship.

"How was your first class?" Xander asked.

Maddie nodded and shrugged. "It was okay. It was just Charms, so all we really did was work on wand motions. When I got it down, it seemed like forever before the rest of the class nailed it."

He chuckled. "Yeah, we were all in Potions with Gryffindor, and it was something. Snape does not have favorites, even within Slytherin. It definitely lowered my self-esteem."

She nodded. "We have potions doubled with Hufflepuff, so we'll see how that goes."

"I don't think we have any classes with Hufflepuff," he stated. "There's always one house that you never see. For some reasons more than others."

Professor Sprout quieted everyone down. She started to hand out sheets of paper. As they passed by, Maddie looked over it. It was a blank numbered list with 15 spaces.

"Everyone take out your quills," she said. "Your assignment is to label all of the plants and herbs in front of you. As you can see, there are numbers on the plants, so it should be easy for you to do. You will be allowed to use your book for today, but there may be a day when you can't. Begin!"

Maddie looks over at Xander. "Do you want to be the one that writes it down or the one that looks everything up?"

He took the paper from her and handed her a book. "I'd rather be the one that writes it all down." He pointed at the one in front of them. "This is number eleven."

Maddie opened her textbook and looked through the pages to find the picture that matched the plant. She took a deep breath while she stared at an image, hoping to be able to match it to the one in front of her.

"It's wormwood," she told him. She looked over at the one next to it which was labelled five. "Five is wormwood, too." The one next to it was different, which was almost a relief. She hated when different questions had the same answers. "Seven is Aconite, and ten is too."

Getting through the list wasn't extremely difficult, but since they repeated and all looked similar, it was nerve-wracking hoping that some of the ones that looked the same weren't labelled wrong on their sheets.

"How confident are you on all of this?" Xander asked.

She shrugged. She was hoping that the ones on the page were all correct. They were only going to be learning more from here on out, so if they didn't get them down now, then there was near to no hope for them.

They had turned their papers into Professor Sprout, and everyone was waiting to see who had all of the answers right or the closest thing to it. Ricky was holding hands with the girl that she had worked with. Roger had his hands over his face as she looked over the papers. Xander went back to playing with his finger nails, while Maddie hugged her arm and tapped her foot.

"It seems we have a tie," Sprout said. "There are two groups that have gotten almost all of them right." There was a large pause. "These two groups both missed two questions. Congratulations to Mr. Davies and Miss Peyton, also to Miss Shire and Mr. Noble. You all have earned one point for your houses."

Maddie's eyes widened as she gave Xander a hug, while the jumped a bit. It was the first house point that she had earned, and she had succeeded in her first Herbology class. She was so excited to be able to tell her parents good news when she wrote a letter before she went to bed.

"Don't celebrate just yet, my dears," Sprout said. "There was one group that did better than all of the rest, getting every single question correct." Maddie let go of Xander and her heart dropped a bit. "Wonderful job, Miss Logan and Mr. Ahers. Two points to each of your houses."

Xander looked over at her and stuck his hand back out to her. "Hey, good job, Maddie. We did pretty good."

Maddie took his hand and smiled. "Wish we could have done better, but it's been nice working with you," she said before grabbing her stuff and heading over to where Roger and Ricky were.

Ricky looked a little upset. Maddie figured that it was because she wasn't one of the few that got enough right to get recognition. She gave the two a smile though when they all reconnected.

"Good job, you guys," Ricky said.

Maddie patted her shoulder. "Thank you. I kind of want to know what I got wrong though. I'm sure it was one of the repeaters. I was confused about number two. What did you put for that one, Roger?"

"Mandrake root," he said. "But I don't think that is right. I took a complete guess."

She nodded. "That's what I put, too."

"It was Asphodel Root," Ricky chimed in. "The difference is slight, but it's there. I only know it because it's in the lily family, so we have a lot of them around my house."

Maddie nodded and smiled, "Well, hey, let's go get lunch and relax before our Potions class."

Maddie walked into the West Courtyard and walked over to the bench that Fred was laying on. She still had her bag full of her books from her Potions and DADA class. He looked almost like he was sleeping while he laid on the bench. It wouldn't be surprising to her, considering in the morning he had looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep.

She set her bag of books down and looked at him, crossing her arms over her chest. She was blocking the sun from his face, so if he was awake, he would know that she was there. Since he did budge, she tapped his arm.

"Fred, wake up," she said with a slight assertive tone. "You can't just ask me to come here, and then sleep."

He smiled and opened one eye. "I would never sleep out in the open. There's too many different possible things that could happen." He sat up and patted the spot next to him. "How was your first day, learning a lot of the things I already knew?"

She chuckled. "I doubt you knew all of those herbs."

Fred laughed and shrugged. "Maybe not, but I did do pretty well in Defence Against the Dark Arts. Professor Quirrell was a pretty easy person to win over."

"Oh is that what you do?" Maddie asked. "You 'win' people over?"

"Yeah," he said as he nudged her. "How else would you have been my friend?"

"I talked to you first."

"I was obviously the more approachable one though," Fred joked. "No, but for real, how were your classes? What did you have today again?"

Maddie cleared her throat. "I had Herbology, Charms, Potions, and Defence Against the Dark Arts. I had fun in Herbology; I was tied for second and won a house point. Charms got boring really quickly, but I'm sure once we're done with the basics, it will be more fun. I felt like all of the reading that I had done beforehand to give me the slightest advantage in Potions was a complete waste of time. I still felt like an idiot. And I agree with you. It's going to be an easy A in Quirrell's class."

"Charlie told me that he doesn't care this year because he's going to Romania next year, so this is just his time to do whatever," he told her. "He apparently has no plan to return afterwards, but he may anyway."

She nodded. "Yeah, what do you even do in Romania anyway?"

"Dragons, mostly," he informed her. "That's where Charlie wants to go after he leaves. He thinks that where his talents lie. Mum and Dad want him to do whatever makes him happy, but we all know they really want him to be a professional Quidditch player if he can. He's a phenomenal seeker."

Maddie looked around the courtyard. She was still in awe of everything that she had seen here at Hogwarts, but it did seem to be more real now that she had actually experienced all of it.

"When does Quidditch season start?" she asked. "Everyone talks about it, and I want to know what it is."

Fred pushed up his sleeve after taking his wand out of it. "Here, I'll explain it to you. It's really easy." He held out seven fingers, five on one and two on the other. "So there are seven players on a team and four balls used. There are three goals on each side of the field that the Keeper protects. There are three Chasers that carry a ball called the Quaffle that they toss back and forth between their team mates wanting to get the ball through one of the goals." He took a deep breath. "Seekers, which is what Charlie is, only deal with this tiny golden ball called a 'snitch.' I don't know how he managed to see the darned thing; it's extremely small. Finally, there are beaters, which is my personal favorite."

"What do beaters do?"

He smiled. "They have to protect people from the two Bludgers that fly around." He stood up with his hands in position on an invisible bat. "Bludgers can do some serious damage and have a mind of their own. Beaters need to be on their toes at all times- figuratively, of course- that way they can always be there to save the day." He took a swing with his invisible bat.

Fred sat back down and yawned. "That's the basics of the game."

Maddie smiled. "Well, thank you. It sounds a lot like soccer in the Muggle World. Though, nothing is flying and the only potential to be injured is from the other players. I played when I was really little because my father's hospital team were sponsoring and therefore coaching a team."

He yawned again and nodded. "That sounds like fun."

"Did you get any sleep last night?" She asked.

He shook his head. "No, I mean, I got a good amount of sleep, but it just wasn't good sleep," he explained. "I don't do well sleeping in places that I don't really know. I should be fine by the end of the week."

Maddie sighed and rubbed his arm. "I hope so." She looked up at the sky. "We have a 'pop' quiz in Potions next week. You need to be ready for that."

"There's this girl in my house, Angelina, who said she would help me and George the day before, but if you want to join us, then I'd be happy to have you," he said.

She shrugged. "I'm sure that Ricky and Roger would want to study together. Ours is on Wednesday, so I'm sure that we'll be studying before Tuesday. I wouldn't mind having you there if you wanted to prepare properly."

He laughed and nudged her. "When have I struck you as a person that prepares properly? My whole life has been a spontaneous nightmare," he joked. "We have a lot to live up to, me and Georgie. Both of our brothers have been prefects, and Bill was Head Boy last year. We're pretty sure that Charlie will be too." He sighed. "We just have a lot to live up to."

Maddie nodded. "I can understand that. I'm an only child, but my parents both have the most prestigious positions in the Muggle World basically. My mother is a lawyer at a hospital, and my father is a top oncologist at that same hospital. My only choice was to be just as prestigious as them. My father really didn't want me to come here, and I'm sure he'll find a way to pull me out if I don't do well."

"You muggles are weird," he chuckled. "Healers do well here, but they aren't the most wanted position. Everyone here wants to be Aurors, which solve crimes and stuff."

"Detectives are not an undesirable career in the Muggle World, but they aren't popular," she explained. "We have a lot, but it's not one of the top careers."

There was a small silence before Maddie stood up. There was still another half-hour until five, meaning they had plenty of time to kill before dinner. She grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder. She looked over at Fred and smiled.

"Do you want to go explore the castle and see what we can find?" She asked him.

He stood up and put his wand back in his sleeve. "It's almost like you are reading my mind."

They headed back inside the castle and strolled down the first hallway that they came across. Fred took her bag from her and put it over his shoulder after she started moving it from shoulder to shoulder. She smiled her thanks and headed down a small side hall.

"Where's George?" Maddie asked Fred. They always seemed like partners in crime that created double the trouble, but it seemed like they fed off each other for their crazy and pranking natures.

"We made a friend in our Potions class when Snape was being rude, and he's exploring the castle with him, I think," he said. "He knew I didn't get a lot of sleep, so I told him that I was just going to relax."

Maddie laughed. "Yeah, that's what you're doing."

He shrugged. "I was lying there for nearly half an hour before you showed up. We got out of Herbology rather quickly. I got my rest in." He moved a tapestry to show a hole in the wall that revealed some stairs. "Let's see where these lead."

She followed him up the stairs, looking around the walls. It had gotten significantly darker once the tapestry had fallen back to place, but the exit for the stairs lit the hallway enough. The stairway was tight, so she had to follow behind Fred as opposed to being beside him. Once they made it around to the top, they looked around to see where they were.

"I think this is the third floor," said Fred. "Over there's the charms hallway." He pointed to where the Grand Staircase could be seen, leading to the Charms hallway. "It doesn't seem like the Grand Staircase even connects to this hallway, though."

Maddie walked over to where the Grand Staircase was. The closer she got to the end of the hall, the weirder the exit looked. When she was got there, she was met with a wall. She moved her hand against the wall. It felt like a normal wall.

"We should check that out next time that we're on the stairs," she told him. This feels like a real wall." She walked back over to Fred. "Where to next?"

He looked around. "We'll let's just see where this goes. I wonder what there is to hide."

"Robert, one of our prefects, was saying that sometimes the castle just hides hallways, and sometimes they change where they end up just for the fun of it," she explained. "So this could just be the castle doing its thing instead of Dumbledore hiding something."

Fred nodded and looked back at Maddie. "What's it like being in Ravenclaw? What does your common room look like?"

She shrugged. "The people are nice. I think I'll enjoy my time in the house. It's nice being around people that really get me."

"Are you saying that people in other houses wouldn't?" He interrupted.

Maddie shook her head. "No, not at all. I know that I'll have friends in other houses, such as you, but I meant, like, the people in Ravenclaw will be going through a lot of what I will be. We'll just have a lot of common experiences."

He nodded and turned down a hall to their left. Maddie stopped to watch him for a moment before jogging to catch up. She looped her arm in his and looked up at him. He met her gaze and smiled.

"What's been your favorite class so far?" She asked him. "I think mine has been Defence Against the Dark Arts."

Fred shrugged. "I think I like Charms so far. I mean, I know the potential of it just because of what Charlie and Bill have been able to do. Since George and I, obviously, are into pranks and gags, I feel like that will propel us the farthest in our dreams."

"What's your dream?"

He chuckled. "It's a little unrealistic- well, according to my mother- but we want to open up a joke shop like Zonko's. Who knows what we'll want to do years down the line, but for the moment, that's what we want to do."

Maddie smiled. "That's cool. I have no idea what I even can do. I'm aware that I can still go into medicine, but I don't know if after all of this, if that's what I want to do. It seems like there's so many options to pick from."

He nodded. "Yeah, there is, but we have seven years to worry about that," he laughed. "It's only been the first day."

The hall ended in a staircase. They started to head up the staircase, wondering where it went. It seemed like it continued on forever. They started to take bets for what floor that it would end on. Maddie said sixth, and Fred said ninth. Maddie was unsure if there was even a ninth floor.

When the stairs ended, there was a door that was decorated with many carvings. They stopped and opened the door. There was a basically empty hallway with the exception of a few paintings and a statue. They walked over to the statue.

"Gregory the Smarmy," Maddie read off of the plaque on the wall. "He was a medieval wizard that invented the Unctuous Unction."

"I've heard of that potion. I think it makes whoever drinks it think that the giver is their best friend," he guessed.

Fred leaned against the statue as Maddie continued to read what was on the plaque. Suddenly, the statue slid over and revealed a staircase. This castle sure loved to hide staircases.

"After you, M'lady," he said, offering her to go first.

Maddie walked down the stairs and waited for Fred to come down as well. Once they were both in the passageway, the statue went back into place, leaving them in complete darkness. Maddie reached over and grabbed Fred's hand. She wasn't extremely scared of the dark, but in an area that she didn't know all that well, she might as well have been.

He pulled his wand out of his sleeve. "Lumos," he whispered, and his wand lit up the area around them.

"Where did you learn that?" She asked.

"Having older brothers who can perform magic outside of the castle, and parents who can as well, you pick up on a few things," he said and started to lead her through the passageway. "It's one of the motions we learned in Charms, too. See, I can pay attention in class," he joked.

The stairs seemed like they went on forever. There were times that they went up, and times that they went down. They had absolutely no idea what floor they were going to end up on. When they finally reached the end of the stairs, it seemed to be a dead end. Fred handed Maddie his wand. As soon as he did, the light went out. He pushed on the wall. It took a moment before anything moved and they could see some light.

He pushed the door open and walked out into the hall. Maddie followed him out and looked around. The door closed behind them. Maddie looked over and saw that the door was actually a painting. She handed Fred back his wand.

"Where are we?" Maddie asked, looking around the hallway.

Fred slipped his wand back into his sleeve. "This is the seventh floor western corridor."

She raised an eyebrow. "How do you know that?"

He pointed to a portrait of a large lady in a pink dress. "That's the entrance to the Gryffindor common room." He looked around. "I'm not entirely sure what good that passageway is for, but I may try later to see if there's anything else down that hall that we found that statue on."

Maddie nodded and looked around. The hallway they were on seemed closed off and quiet as well. She was concerned on how she was going to be getting out of the hallway and back to her own common room. This whole castle was a huge maze.

Fred walked over to her and put his arm on her shoulder. "I'll show you how to get back to the Grand Staircase. I think it's almost time for dinner."

She nodded. "Thank you."

"What kind of friend would I be if I just left you to wander?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes:** Thanks to all of you all that have read so far. I honestly love writing HP fanfics, and I love the twins, so this fic is basically my heart and soul in a story. This will go through all 9 years, leading up to Fred's death that I am keeping. I don't know how long it will take to get there, but we'll do it together.

Also, this is a complete re-write and re-master of an old fic of mine on a different account. I hated how that one was turning out and it had been so long since I touched it, it only felt write to redo everything. So if anything sounds familiar that may be why.

* * *

Maddie sat in the main library looking over her Transfigurations notes. They had their first examination tomorrow, and she was determined to pass. They had been working on turning matchsticks into needles for the first few weeks of class after memorizing the alphabet and the transfiguration formula. They had advanced to learning the Switching Spell, and that was what their exam was on.

Ricky was across the table from her studying her text book. She had more issues with Transfigurations than she did with Herbology. Her short hair was sticking up more than she styled it since she was starting to get extremely frustrated with her work. She barely could get her match to turn into a needle after hours of trying. She had gotten to the point where it took her a few minutes to get her match to become a needle, but that was nowhere near where their skills were supposed to be at this point.

Roger was practically the boy genius of Transfiguration. It took him two lessons in total to get the match-needle transformation down. He didn't need to bother with studying for the exam, since he already had that down too. He was probably asleep in his dorm, already done with all of the homework that McGonagall had given them.

Maddie took her wand out of her boot and stood up. She put two of her pens that she had brought from the Muggle World side by side and took a deep breath. Every time that she had attempted this spell, the two items that she tried to switch end up morphed together. She closed her eyes for a moment.

Ricky looked up to watch her. She looked like she needed the break from her own struggles. Maddie pointed her wand at the pen on the left and moved her wand in the motion that she had been taught. A bright white light was emitted from the end of her wand. When the light died out, she looked over what she had done.

"Bloody Hell," she whispered when she saw that the pen to the right now had an extra clip. She slammed her wand onto the table and sat down defeated. "There's no way I'm going to be able to pass tomorrow."

"You're telling me," Ricky said. "I can barely do the basics, much less something more advanced. I don't even know how I'm going to pass this year and move on."

She sighed. "You'll get it. It just takes time and practice. I sat with Roger for a few hours getting the match thing down, while I helped him with his levitation spell."

Maddie went back to her notes, not that there wasn't anything that she hadn't already read that would help her more than it already had. Even the homework that she had been doing got McGonagall, didn't help her at all.

She laid her head on the table and closed her eyes. The best thing for her to do at this point was to go to sleep. She had done all of her homework, but she just couldn't get the spell down, which was all she was really worried about for the next day. She wasn't even concerned for Potions, which she was always brutally terrified for.

She started to pack up her stuff, sticking her wand back in her boot and her book and notes in her bag. She gave Ricky a goodnight nod before leaving the library. She walked back to the Grand Staircase and sat down on the first step. She put her head in her hands.

She had gotten back her third letter from her parents last week, and she knew it was written purely by her father. Her mother usually could convey his words in a nicer way, but that was not the case for this letter. He was not happy that she was struggling in a few of her classes. On her part, most of the struggles that she had told him, she had gotten over and mastered them. But there were still some things that she didn't know. She had been here for a little over a month. She almost felt like she wasn't allowed to have any flaws.

Her only continuing struggles were in History of Magic and this little thing in Transfigurations. She didn't have the background like a lot of the other wizards here to know the basics. Now, that they were getting into more of the stuff that was new to everyone, she was starting to excel. Going home for Christmas was not going to be fun for her.

She heard laughter and footsteps coming towards the stairs from a nearby hallway. She moved to the side so that they could pass. She wanted a moment to herself before returning to the common room to just do more studying and attempts at perfecting the Switching Spell.

"Hey, Maddie," one of the people passing said. She looked up to see the twins with Lee Jordan and Angelina Johnson. The two were nice, but she could tell they never really wanted to be around her for an immense amount of time. She was a Ravenclaw, and she understood that. "You guys keep going, I'll meet up with you."

Three sets of footsteps continued up the stairs while a pair of feet stayed behind. Fred sat next to her and nudged her shoulder. When she didn't look at him or say anything, he leaned back.

"Hey, what's up?" He said with a sigh. "I can tell when your upset. I can see auras, and yours is the deepest blue."

Maddie looked over at him before leaning back as well. "You wish that you could see auras. That's what you need; something more to boost your ego," she joked.

He laughed. "There's the Maddie that I know. Okay, but really what's up? I don't think I've ever seen somebody not at least make it to the second floor before deciding that it's all too much."

She took a deep breath. "I'm struggling with the Switching Spell, which, as I'm sure you know, is basically what the whole Transfiguration examination is on. And while, I'm definitely getting better since it's in more level territory, History of Magic is still kicking my butt. I got an exceeds expectations on the first exam. My father wasn't happy that I didn't get the best grade possible."

Fred raised an eyebrow and sat up. "Wait, you got an exceeds expectations, and you are upset?" He cleared his throat. "You do know that that's a good thing right? You literally exceeded expectations of you."

She ran her hand through her hair and put it up into a ponytail. "My parents literally expect the best of me, my father especially. It's not even Christmas, and I am already disappointing him. What do you expect me to think?"

He sighed. "Well, like you said, you're doing better in comparison in History of Magic. So forget about that. Let's talk about the Switching Spell. If I help you master it, then you aren't allowed to do all of this sulking."

Maddie continued to play with her ponytail. Since her hair had always been rather long, it became a habit of hers to play with it when she was scared or nervous. There'd been a few times that she had debated cutting it all off, but she thought better of it.

"How do you suppose we do that?" She asked.

"Easy. George and I mastered it weeks ago," he said with a smile. "We have to be careful though because it's late and Filch will murder us if he sees doing magic in the corridors this late at night."

He stood up and offered her a hand up. She took it and grabbed her bag once she was up. She gestured to say that she was following him. He started down the hall that he had come from. She had no idea what he had in plan for her, but if it was going to help her, then she was prepared to do anything.

Recently, she and the twins hadn't had a whole lot of time to hang out. They all had made their own friends and had their own interests. They usually had breakfast together once a week and met up whenever one took the effort to pass a note.

He turned to her and gave her a smile. "If it makes you feel any better, George and I aren't doing all that well in Potions. I think he gave us a poor on our last assignment."

She hit his arm. "Fred Weasley!" She gaped. "I told you that I have gotten an outstanding on everything. I could totally help you."

Fred nodded. "Yeah, Angelina keeps convincing me that she can teach me better than you, and I get too lazy to try and figure out how to reach out to you to ask for help. But now, I guess you can help me in turn for this."

Maddie nodded and shrugged. "Yeah, okay. I guess that's okay." She took her hair back out of the ponytail and shook her hair out, letting it fall all over one shoulder. "Where are you taking me?"

"To help," he said. "When I was struggling with the spell, I was told that it helps to start large instead of small in cases like this. So I'm taking you to something large." He looked back at her. "Be patient."

She continued to follow him down the hallway that just seemed to get darker and darker as they went along. She looked around the halls, slightly scared that George was going to be popping out of nowhere, and that this was another one of their stupid tricks that they liked to play on her. She wasn't the biggest fan of the dark since it could lead to the unknown.

The hallway started to get brighter as they continued. He gestured to two statues that were at the end of the hallway. She gave him a confused look.

"That's what I'm switching?"

Fred nodded. "Yeah. I found it easier to move two things that are large instead of working on two smaller things first. The pressure seemed to help me."

Maddie took a large breath and pulled her wand out of her boot. She put her bag down over to the side and rolled her shoulders. She looked over at Fred who had also taken his wand out. She had no idea how this was going to go, but she figured it was worth a shot. If she messed up the statues then, she figured Fred could fix it for her. It was easy to fix a Switching Spell mistake, but it depended to what extent.

"Go on," Fred urged her.

Maddie raised her wand and pointed it at one of the statues. She looked over at Fred one more time before doing the motion of the spell. The bright white light lit up the hallway more than it already was. She closed her eyes hoping that it had worked, but when she had opened them she saw that nothing had happened.

He waved her telling her that she needed to try again. She cleared her throat and strengthened her stance. She tried the spell again, filling the room with white light. She had no idea if this was going to be the way that she got the spell down.

Again, there was nothing that happened.

"I don't think that this is going to happen, Fred," she said. "I'm just going to forever be a disappointment to my parents."

"You just have to believe in yourself," he told her. "I know that you are struggling. You come from a world where this is all just considered make believe. You started at a lower point than the rest of us, and you have definitely risen above us on many levels. So you are struggling with one small thing. You have mastered so much more, that I haven't even figured out. Don't worry."

Maddie let out a sigh. "I know." She looked around. "I think I'd rather just stay working with smaller objects because at least then I was getting some progress. And the examination tomorrow is just going to be using two quills."

Fred reached into her bag and pulled out the two pens. He gave them a quizzical look. She knew that he didn't really know what they were, but he knew at this point that if he didn't know what it was then it was some muggle object. He held them up for her to try again.

She raised her wand up looked him in the eyes. His brown eyes were focused on hers. He nodded, and she focused her attention on the pens. She tried the spell again while trying to maintain eye contact with the pen that she was enchanting first and attempting to mentally move it with her mind. She knew that wasn't how spells worked, especially this one, but sometimes it helped her to mentally picture what she was doing to get the spell to work. Sometimes.

There was a loud noise to her right. She looked over and saw that George had arrived and was messing with one of the torches on the wall. He had broken off one of the ornamental pieces on it. She heaved a sigh of relief and put her hand on her chest.

"Bloody hell, George," Maddie scorned. "What the hell are you doing?"

He shrugged and walked over. "Fred wasn't back, so I figured I would come see what was up. I wanted to make an entrance."

Fred walked over and put his arms around Maddie's neck. "Well, look what she finally did." He wiggled the pens for them to both look at, even though it was a little awkward for Maddie, since it was so close to her face.

He originally was holding the pen with two clips in his right hand, and he was now holding it in his left hand. She smiled, and she turned around. His arms were still around her neck.

"Did I really?" She asked excitedly. "Oh my goodness. I can't believe it."

She wrapped her arms around him in a hug. He laughed and tucked the pens into her shirt. "You're welcome."

They let go of each other and both turned to George. He had pulled out his wand and was twirling it between his fingers. Maddie ran over to her bag and tossed the pens in it before throwing it over her shoulder. She walked back to the twins and looked around.

"Well, I better get off to-"

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE," a voice from behind them interrupted. They all turned to see Mr. Filch holding his lamp up, followed by Mrs. Norris. "Do you three have any idea what time it is?"

Maddie's heart dropped. Had it already gotten past curfew? She had no idea that much time had passed. The trio all returned their wands to their holding place before he got close enough to see that they had them out. If they were caught practicing magic in the hallways, especially this late at night, there was no doubt that they would be getting detention.

Fred grabbed her arm and whispered in her ear, "Run."

George took a dungbomb out of his pocket and tossed it onto the floor. Even though it wasn't going to create anything to cover their trail, it would be enough to distract Filch. Once it impacted the floor, the three ran towards the Grand Staircase. All of them could use it to get to their common room in time to escape. Maddie wasn't sure that it would get them out of detention. Filch knew who the boys were.

They all ran down the hall without looking back. The boys had longer legs than her, so they were always ahead of her. Thankfully, she got off the stairs before they had to. As Maddie turned to step onto the stairs, she looked back at Filch and saw that they hadn't left him behind like they thought. As she took another step on the stairs, he grabbed her arm and held her back. She took a deep breath and stood there defeated. The twins noticed she wasn't with them anymore and stopped as well.

"You guys are in for a lot of trouble," he said. "Come with me, you two. If you don't follow me, then I will talk to the heads of your houses and your punishment will be doubled."

He pulled her off of the stairs and down another hall. She knew that they were going to his office. There was no chance that she would be able to live this down by either her classmates or her parents.

When they got to his office, he made Maddie sit down and told one of the twins in the other. He pushed Fred over to sit in his chair. She looked over at him with an apologetic look. He didn't seem to be phased by any of this.

Filch gave them all a look before leaving his office and locking the door. There was a large sigh that filled the room between the three of them. Maddie had no idea what was going to happen next. Unlike the twins, she hadn't had detention yet, and she had never planned on getting it either.

"Hey, guys," Fred said. He slid the chair over to a filing cabinet. The pointed at one of the drawer's labels. "This says _Confiscated and Highly Dangerous._ What do you guys think? Do you think that we can find something cool in here?"

Maddie frowned. "Fred, I don't think that we should mess around. We just got in trouble, and now, you want us to get into more trouble?"

George waved his hand in a careless manner. "We'll know when he's getting back since he locked the door, and there's no way he'll miss something from the drawer. Yeah, he might notice that we have one, but that doesn't mean he's smart enough to make the correlation. You'll basically be in the clear."

She took a deep breath and buried her face in her hands. If she didn't see it happen, then there was no way that they could hold her to anything. She felt sick just being locked in a room, waiting on their detention sentence. She didn't know how she would feel if she managed to get into more trouble for something that the twins were doing on their own.

Fred had pulled at the drawer to find that it was locked. He had pulled hard enough on it that Maddie had heard the file cabinet move a little against the concrete floor. She took a deep breath and looked over at him. He seemed very puzzled in what he was going to do next.

"Hey, Ravenclaw," he said with a sly tone to his voice. "You're good in charms, right?"

The question alone made her want to gag. She nodded slowly and made eye contact with him. She glared slightly at him, letting him know that she still didn't want any part in this. He slid the chair he was in around the desk and closer to her. If her chair had wheels, she would have rolled away from him, but there was nowhere to go, even so.

He gave her a smile that he used when he wanted something. She had gotten to know it well over breakfast. It was usually over information rather than material things, but it was still a look she knew well.

"What's the spell to open locks?" Fred asked. "I know the gist of it, but I am currently blanking on the incantation."

She put a hand on his face and gently pushed him away. "I am not going to tell you," she whispered. "No matter how much you give me that look, I refuse to get into more trouble than anything is worth in there."

His response was to only move closer to her. He grabbed onto her chair and squared it so that she was face to face with him. His eyes maintaining firm contact with hers. He gave her a small wink that made the feeling in her stomach lessen in a way, but it also gave her a weird shaky feeling.

"Fine," she said after a moment of silence, only because she didn't want to be forced to stare at him anymore. "Alohomora."

"You're a saint," she heard George say as Fred pushed back towards the drawer. He had moved to the drawer while Fred was getting the answer out of her and pulled out his wand. " _Alohomora,"_ he spoke as he moved his wand in a backwards S motion.

The drawer clicked, and he pulled it open. Maddie stood up and walked over to the door, resting her back on it. As much as she didn't want to get in trouble, she also had the pull of rebellion to aid the twins in their mischiefs. This wasn't the first time that she had been out late helping the twins with something, but she had never gotten in trouble for any of it. The pranks and gags weren't exactly her thing, but since these two were her best friends, she did whatever she had to do to spend time with them. Roger and Ricky were cool, but they were nothing like the twins.

She also did have to admit that she was closer friends with Fred than George. George tended to be shier, even though that seemed like an impossible thing that the twins could accomplish. He was nicer, but he wasn't as outgoing. He also seemed like he didn't care if he never spent another day with Maddie ever again. Fred was always the one that initiated the trio's hangouts. He even would hang out with her just on his own, whenever he could spare a moment from George. Even though they were twins and seemed inseparable, that didn't mean that they needed their breaks from each other, too.

Fred was just more personable with her. He wasn't afraid to tell her that he was struggling in a class and needed help; he wasn't afraid to ask for whatever help he needed. He knew that he could have had Angelina help him, like George preferred to do, but he seemed like most days he'd rather have Maddie helping him. He wasn't afraid to associate with her since she was in a different house, and she appreciated it. She spent so many waking hours with Ricky and Roger that the change was so nice.

They weren't afraid of their differences. They bickered half of the time they were together just the two of them. They never had an actual fight or full on argument that could risk their friendship, or at least not a serious one. They argued over which house was better, Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, but were fully aware that the other would never be able to fit in and wearing the other's colors. They grew up in completely different cultures and lifestyles, but they were always eager about learning something different. She figured most of his questions came from his father, but she didn't mind. She wanted to meet his father one day. He was the only family member that she hadn't met.

Maddie was pulled out of her thoughts and observations when Fred said her name. She didn't know if that was the first time he said it, or if she was just standing there, looking like an idiot for zoning out so intensely.

"Why would you think Filch would hide this piece of parchment in the drawer?" he asked her when he knew he had her attention. "It has to be something. He's got to know since he put it in there."

She shrugged and walked over to them. George was mindlessly going through the rest of the items in the drawer. There were some Zonko's merchandise that he was pocketing. She didn't recognize what any of it was.

She took the parchment and looked it over. She opened it up and noticed that the folding was a lot more complicated than it let on. She recognized by that fact that this was obviously supposed to be a map of some sorts or at least was made for the purpose of being one. She closed it back up and handed it to him.

"I don't know what it actually is, but it has the shaping's of a map," Maddie explained. "See the way that it unfolds and everything? That's usually used on maps that are kind of like blueprints. It shows multiple layers to everything."

Fred looked at her like he was impressed with her knowledge. At this point, she figured he would have realized that she knows more than he thinks she does. She wasn't put in Ravenclaw for nothing.

He looked back at the parchment and stood up from where he had been crouched over the drawer. He moved closer to Maddie so that they could investigate the parchment together.

"A map to what, though?" He asked. "Obviously, it's for something that someone didn't want seen. I bet this is charmed. I don't think that Filch would just put a piece of parchment in a drawer with that label."

As Maddie opened her mouth to speak, there was a faint sound of the door being unlocked. Fred and her met glances before moving to sit back in the seats they were put in. She felt a slight tug on her robes as she made her way back to the seat. George closed the drawer and was sitting back down as Filch got the door open.

Filch's face held a look of disappointment. He left the door open as he walked in. He returned his keys to his pocket before he spoke.

"McGonagall said to let you off with a warning," he finally said. "Get out of here before I change my mind and hang you by your feet on the rafters."

All three of them stood up and left the room immediately. There wasn't a chance that any of them would stick around to find out if Filch was actually serious about that. They made their way to the Grand Staircase and strode up the stairs until Maddie reached her stop at the third floor.

"Goodnight, boys," she said to the both of them. "Thanks for getting me in trouble after helping me."

Fred smiled and pulled her in for a hug. "Goodnight, Mads. Thanks for helping us out, and good luck on your exam tomorrow."

She squeezed him in the hug to show her thanks. After stepping back, she looked over at George and gave him a curt nod. As nice as he was, she knew from experience that he'd probably only hug her if it was in his own best interests.

She took off behind the hole in the wall and made her way back to the Ravenclaw common room. She whistled as she walked, twirling her wand in her hand. She made her way to the small spiral staircase that led up to her common room. Before she walked up, she put her wand back in her boot and put her hands in her cloak pockets.

Maddie felt something in her pocket that wasn't there before. She gave a confused look as she pulled it out. It was the piece of parchment that they found in Filch's office. She had no idea when Fred put it there, but it didn't stop the smile that spread to her lips from deep in her heart. It was good to know that she had a real friend.


End file.
